PRISONS & DISASTERSColorado Prisons Vulnerable to Natural Disasters but May Be Ill-Prepared
Three-quarters of Colorado prisons are likely to experience a natural disaster in the coming years, but due to aging infrastructure and outdated policies, many are ill-equipped to keep residents safe.
Three-quarters of Colorado prisons are likely to experience a natural disaster in the coming years, but due to aging infrastructure and outdated policies, many are ill-equipped to keep residents safe, suggests new CU Boulder research.
The study, published in the journal Natural Hazards Review, comes on the heels of one of the hottest summers on record and as U.S. lawmakers are calling for an investigation into a rash of what are believed to be heat-related deaths in the nation’s prisons.
In other research, including interviews and focus groups with 35 formerly incarcerated Coloradans, the researchers found that most had already suffered from climate-related hazards, experiencing everything from “brutally hot” or “ice cold” cells to respiratory problems related to wildfire smoke and lack of toilet facilities during floods.
“We showed that the incarceration infrastructure in Colorado is highly vulnerable to climate- related hazards and that incarcerated people who are Black and Hispanic are at even greater risk,” said Shideh Dashti, associate professor of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and co-author on both studies. “This is a serious racial justice and environmental justice issue that needs to be addressed.”
Prisoners Among the Most Vulnerable
Researchers have long known that marginalized communities, including people of color, low-income families and people with disabilities, are more vulnerable to climate change. But those behind bars face added risk, as they can’t leave or adapt their space to escape threats.
Facilities tend to be old, with poor insulation and outdated heat, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. Colorado’s oldest prison opened in 1871. About 40% of incarcerated individuals have a mental health diagnosis, and many take medication that impairs their ability to regulate body temperature.
“When coupled with the extreme temperatures, wildfire smoke and floods that climate change brings, these conditions and lack of agency render incarcerated people extremely vulnerable,” said co-author Ben Barron, a doctoral candidate and research assistant in the CU Boulder Department of Geography.
Until recently, little research had been done in this area.
To address the gap, the interdisciplinary research team gathered census data on 110 Colorado facilities, including prisons, jails and juvenile detention and immigration detention centers. They used GIS mapping software and climate modeling data to calculate whether each facility was at low, medium or high risk of wildfire, heatwaves, floods and landslides.
They found that 74.5% of facilities housing 83% of Colorado’s incarcerated population have either moderate or high exposure to at least one hazard, and 17% percent are at risk of two.
